I have had some pretty interesting seatmates over the years and some not so interesting. It depends on what they're talking about if I want to listen. Some people are, let's face it, boring and you just don't want to listen anymore.
My most memorable seatmate was a nun going to do volunteer work in Belize and had done a lot of work all over the world. I could have listened to her for hours longer.
Another seatmate turned out to be the wife of an old boyfriend of mine. Small world.
Bobette